How to Step into the Craft of Decision-Making

How do we make the best possible decisions? How do we navigate the jungle of opportunities, especially in times like nowadays, where there seems to be an endless pool of choices? How could we possibly know what is best for us?

In this article, we will explore thoughts and techniques that help us streamline this difficult process and make better decisions much faster. Now, first of all, think about where you stand right now.

Charting your course: Align your goals and values

What are your values and where do you want to go? Which goal do you want to achieve? First of all, define your core values. What should your decisions be driven by? I say “should” because not all of your past decisions might have been what you would now consider ideal. Think about at least five decisions in your life that you would say were good decisions that you would still endorse. Now think about whether there is something that they have in common. In case you found that it was a good decision to go to university, for example, and another good decision was joining this one book club, then a common theme between the two would be “broadening your horizon” or “education”. If there doesn’t seem to be a common thread, look for what you value the most about your favorite decision. These might be your core values. There are also great tools out there for assessing these like personalvalu.es and findyourvalues.com.

Define what truly drives you and let it guide your path forward.

Now prioritize them. Put them in a list starting with the most important value and go down to the least valuable. Always make sure that you still resonate with these values. If just looking at one of them makes you feel uncomfortable, then chances are that it is one that you just think is a value of yours but really isn’t. Maybe you convinced yourself at one point that something is important to you because otherwise you would have been let down by others. Remember that these are your personal values, not somebody else’s.

Being done with assessing your core values, let’s take a look at your goals. For doing so, let’s first look at your strengths, interests, weaknesses, and what you are passionate about. Also, consider what you are currently doing. What are skills you acquired? Are they still useful? What other skills do you want to have?

If you assessed all of these, which might take some time if you are thinking about these things that deeply for the first time, you might already see a way forward. Now define what direction it is that you want to go in. There are more elaborate ways to set specific goals, but I won’t delve deeper into this topic. It’s important that you have a general idea of where you want to move towards. Write down three goals that you want to set for yourself.

Now compare your list of goals with your list of core values that you have written down earlier. Do your goals align with your values? Maybe now you get another idea for a goal that you want to achieve or another value that you hold dear. Write these down as well. If your goals do not align with your values, then you should adjust them. It can be hard letting go of a goal because we often strongly identify with these, but it will immensely help you long-term to avoid a direction that you’re not really willing to walk towards.

Adjust goals if they stray from your core values to stay true to your path.

Having made sure that all of our goals and values align, let’s now formulate a vision for ourselves. A vision is a broad statement of your aspirations. It can serve as your guiding light towards where you want to go in life. If you feel lost, having a vision is often what helps you get back up. It is the essence of your goals. Unlike your goals, which are concrete, your vision should not be too specific. Make sure it aligns with your core values and, again, it should be the essence of your goals. So, ask yourself where all of your goals are leading you towards.

Having defined our vision it already feels so much clearer what decision we might want to make in a given circumstance, isn’t it? The whole process of evaluating your values, goals, and, in the end, your vision for the future might feel long-winded, but you only do this every now and then when you feel like your values have changed. We don’t need to repeat those steps every time we make a new decision.

Now that we have a better idea of what direction to head towards, how about assessing the more immediate evaluations regarding our decision-making.

Information is Power: Gather and evaluate

When making decisions, it's crucial to have relevant information so you can determine the best choice and explore all available options. Perhaps there are options you hadn't even considered.

Firstly, ensure you know the source of your information. Is it as relevant to your decision as possible? You wouldn’t want to receive financial advice from someone in a bad financial situation. While wisdom can be found everywhere, exploring every avenue requires time and energy that we often lack when faced with a situation.

Gather pertinent information from credible sources, consider their relevance and prioritize efficiency.

Consider whether the information source is reliable, whether it's based on personal experience or objective data, and whether it's worth delving deeper into a particular topic. Sometimes, a small piece of information can completely change a decision.

Gather information from diverse sources and individuals with contrasting viewpoints. This helps you better evaluate the pros and cons of each decision and gain a broader perspective, which aids in deeper understanding. When weighing options, consider making a list of the advantages and disadvantages of each decision. It's not just about quantity but also quality. If one disadvantage outweighs all the advantages, it must be taken into account.

Consider diverse perspectives and information reliability to weigh advantages and disadvantages effectively

Additionally, think about the short-term versus long-term consequences of each option, with particular emphasis on long-term implications. While immediate consequences are easy to see, considering long-term effects sets you apart and provides a strategic advantage.

Various tools and techniques, such as SWOT analysis, can aid in evaluating options. The ways to analyze information and consider options are endless. If you're still unsure, a simple coin flip might suffice. Often, making any decision is better than stagnating and overanalyzing. Indecisiveness is not respected and can make one appear weak. Once a decision is made, you will naturally convince yourself that it was the best choice, as it boosts self-confidence.

Navigating Risks and Rewards: Know what awaits you

Now, having all that information and knowing all the options certainly is useful. We even know what the pros and cons of a specific decision are. But what about the risks and benefits? Let’s look a little more in-depth at how we are able to assess these.

First of all, you obviously don’t want your decision to have a high risk of loss or failure when there is little to no benefit. If we struggle to make a decision, then most likely the risk-benefit balance is not so obvious. So again: Let’s make a list!

On one side of a table, we make a column with possible risks and another column with possible benefits. Write down five risks and five benefits that you are aware of (do the research beforehand). First, think of a number from 1-5 about how likely a possible risk or benefit is to occur and write it next to each of them. 1 indicates a small likelihood, while 5 indicates a big likelihood. Secondly, evaluate on a scale of 1-5 how grave it would be if a risk would lead to a loss or failure, and, on the other side, how fortunate it would be if a benefit would lead to profit or success. (5 means having the most impact, and 1 means having the least.) Now multiply the two numbers (The result will be a number between 1 and 25.). Then finally, add up all the numbers in the risk column and then add up all the numbers in the benefit column. Compare them. Which number is higher? If the number of the risk column is higher, then you might consider making a different decision.

Assessing risks and benefits is crucial for informed decision-making.

Having done that, keep in mind that this is not a tool to make an indefinite decision. It’s more or less a tool to weigh different considerations against each other to make things clearer. It might still be a good idea to decide otherwise. To make this tool more valuable, you can also consider adding a factor that represents the importance of a risk or benefit and multiply the result of each with this factor. In the end, it’s just one tool among many to help you come to your conclusions.

Embracing Intuition: Go with your gut

Enough with all the numbers. What about how I feel about a decision? Most of all, after you discover other possibilities, set your goals, and evaluate the objective data, your gut feeling is the ultimate decision-making tool. No objective data or tools for analysis will take every possible aspect into consideration. Our mind, however, can be very precise when it comes to evaluation, given that it is informed with enough correct information and we are able to let go of possible biases.

Your intuition is fueled by your past experiences. You always want to make sure that the insights you gained are still applicable in your current situation. If during your childhood you were punished by your parents for standing up for yourself, it doesn’t mean that it’s still a bad idea to do so. I won’t further discuss evaluating your emotional state and processing traumatic experiences. Just know that these are important things to do to make better decisions in general. You want to have a judgment that is unclouded and clear as day.

Trust your intuition: it's a culmination of past experiences guiding you.

We already talked about accessing our values and goals. Our intuition is framed by our values. They always subconsciously influence our decision-making. If you have read and followed the segment above about how to assess these, then your intuition will guide you much better because it has a clearer frame of reference. Does a decision “feel” in line with your goals and values? Chances are that it might be a good one.

It is not always so clear. When you are not sure what you think, then there are certain things that can help you understand your intuition better. Focus on these while having a certain decision in mind:

1. Your literal “gut feeling” – If your abdomen feels light and at ease, then generally, a certain decision makes you feel good, but not so much if you feel discomfort, tightness, or queasiness.

2. Breath and heart rate – A good decision might make you breathe more at ease, while a bad one might cause more shallow breathing, tightness in the chest, and palpitations or heart racing.

3. Physical relaxation and tension – Again, a positive decision might cause feelings of ease, while negative decisions might cause muscle tension and stiffness.

4. Sensations in the chest – Warmth, expansiveness, and lightness are good, feelings of heaviness, constriction, and discomfort not so much.

5. Changes in energy level – If the thought of a decision makes you feel invigorated and boosts your energy and enthusiasm, go with it, but not so much if you feel depleted and drained, you should rethink it.

6. Emotional responses – A good decision can make you feel excited and invigorated, while a bad one can trigger anxiety, doubt, or sadness

7. Intuitive insights – These may come as a deep sense of clarity, certainty, or conviction and indicate whether a decision aligns with your wisdom and intuition

Tune into physical cues and emotional responses to align decisions with your intuition

If you want to delve deeper into intuitive insights, I recommend reading the book “You are Psychic” by Pete A. Sanders. If you understand German, you can listen to an audiobook version on my YouTube channel, available here: Audio book

While the book discusses psychic powers, its essence lies in tapping into your intuition and gaining insights you otherwise wouldn’t.

I hope you find it easier to evaluate your intuition now because, as the ultimate and final decision-making tool, you don’t want to leave it unused.

Reflecting on the journey: Move forward

Now, how did past decisions play out for you? Did you have positive experiences following your gut or using any of the other tools discussed in this article? Maybe you have previously made decisions using other methods, or perhaps you haven’t given it much thought at all.

Remember that if you are unsure about a decision, often it is best to go with any random choice, as long as you commit to it. Moving forward, even with uncertainty, is progress. Time is too short to dwell, so keep moving.

I am certain there will be future articles diving deeper into topics we’ve only scratched the surface of, such as dealing with emotions. Be sure to subscribe to stay informed about new articles. It will undoubtedly be a beneficial decision.